Below are just a few examples of projects to which we’ve made substantial contributions:

Countdown to Germantown Day

Countdown to Germantown Day was held on April 6, 2013, exactly 6 months prior to the 330 year Anniversary of the founding of Germantown (October 6, 1683). This event served as a community gathering celebrating Germantown’s past, present, and future and was organized on behalf of the Friends of Vernon Park.

Countdown to G-Day modeled the power of unifying by bringing as many varied Germantown organizations together in its production. The event was free and open to the public, encouraging old and new residents, neighbors, children, history buffs and visitors to join in celebrating the rich history and positive future of Germantown.

Participants received a map of Historic Germantown, superimposed to scale all within the borders of Vernon Park. For example, the “Johnson House” tent was more north and west of the “Wyck” tent in the Park. Historic sites and items of interest were noted, and visitors walked through history without leaving the Park’s borders. Historic sites each had tents and tables set up, with representatives sharing artifacts, storytelling, myth-busting, information and anything else with visitors. The goal was to engage and educate visitors and instill senses of pride for and stewardship of Germantown, celebrate our many historic sites and their legacies, and inspire participants to visit the sites individually in order to get a “full experience” of each place and how it ties into the whole.

Further, through collaborative efforts, there were activities organized throughout the weekend to celebrate the community outside of the primary Countdown to Germantown Day event.

This event succeeded because of the collaboration with Historic Germantown and other community organizations, local artists, such as painters, photographers and musicians, and local businesses. In addition to representation of the Historic Sites, there were tents with children’s activities, performing arts, video and photographic recording of community members and an area where the event’s visitors labeled photographs of local lots and vacant buildings with their ideas about what these spaces could become that would make a positive impact on Germantown. This last idea was inspired by Candy Chang’s conceptual art/urban planning initiatives in New Orleans and around the world, where residents are given creative ways to voice their vision for their neighborhoods.

The Climate Revolution is Up to Us Rallies

(Poster)

Just ten days before the Democratic National Convention in 2016, Josh Fox, of International Wow Company, asked Deep Blu Womyn Company to facilitate the development of a Climate Rally to inspire and inform participants about the urgency of the climate through a rally with speakers and musical entertainment, and to show his film “How To Let Go Of The World And Love All The Things Climate Can’t Change.” HIs goal was to host this event the day before the DNC in a community that is often overlooked. In that short time Deep Blu Womyn Company found an available, beautiful location, established partners in the community, secured the permit, locked down local entertainment, co-organized the day-of-show, supported development of the flyer, and connected Fox with the funder that would produce not just this first event but a series of events around the country. The day of the event there were over 1000 people in attendance. YahNé also MC’d the event.

The Bloc Party

(Flyer, front and back)

A coalition of organizations and concerned individuals led by The Center of Returning Citizens developed an event to launch the organization of returning citizens as a voting block – the BLOC Party. DBW Company developed the flyer and all promotional materials, the website, social media pages including facebook, twitter and a crowd funding campaign. Deep Blu Womyn Company also managed most of the funds and coordinated the event development including planning and management, marketing and promotion, and volunteer management. See the bottom of the flyer (front and back) for a list of most of the partners.

The Bennington Writing Seminars Diversity Initiative

The community in Bennington’s Master of Fine Arts Creative Writing Program was very concerned about the lack of diversity in the program. With YahNé’s leadership, the faculty, staff, students, and alumni developed a two year initiative that increased the amount of students and faculty of color, developed a powerful, ever-to-grow book list of diverse authors from around the world with information regarding the genre, but also the writing techniques and values for which a student or faculty could refer to the material, and established a scholarship fund, raising enough funds to give the highest scholarship in the history of the program, which was distributed to a student of color, a Black woman poet.

The Kelly Green Project

(Flyer, front and back)

John B Kelly Elementary School is a public elementary school that is under-resourced, as is most public schools serving the population of Philadelphia, the poorest large city in the United States. The school was adopted by a local garden group, Hansberry Garden and Nature Center. They began a project called The Kelly Green Project, aiming to support activities that would care for the students with a focus on health. The primary goal was to rebuild the grounds and put a playground and safe playing surface – basic conditions that should be found at every elementary school. They were in the process of building a plan for the playground, having held community meetings and developed potential plans when Deep Blu Womyn Company joined them.

Deep Blu Womyn Company’s contributions included the development of a volunteer program, bringing residents, older students from two independent schools, and college students to volunteer in classrooms, providing organizational support to the work of the group, developing the branding of the project and supporting the building of the website. After the community garden was built, we planned a volunteer day during which residents, high school and college students painted the picnic table and shed that were built to accompany the garden which also served as an outdoor classroom, and led the development two fundraisers which raised over $25,000 for the project.

The larger fundraising event was held on November 23, 2014. Deep Blu Womyn Company provided direction, support, a master of ceremonies and entertainment for a most inspirational gala. The event raised $20,000. This collaborative effort included the partnership of Educators, Staff, Students and Parents of Kelly Elementary School, Hansberry Garden, the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania, Germantown Friends School, and individuals and business from the local community, and of course, Deep Blu Womyn Company.

Aiyana’s Dreams

(Sticker and one of six Banners)

Annually, the Philadelphia Chapter of Black Lives Matter organizes an event to honor and remember Aiyana Stanley Jones. Aiyana was murdered at seven years old while sleeping on her grandmothers sofa by police who burst into her the home and shot her in the head. The event, called Aiyana’s Dreams, recognizes that Aiyana was dreaming when she was killed, and calls to remembrance the Black children, women and femmes who have been murdered through state violence. In 2017 and 2018 YahNé contributed to the event by developing the website, aiyanasdreams.com, and developing stickers, posters, and six banners for the event. YahNé also was one of the event speakers. During the day of remembrance, and in 2018, over a week of activities, there was also a social media contest awarding cash prizes to youth who spoke about their dreams and their relationship to Aiyana’s story, and workshops in school’s with children who are the age Aiyana would be were she still alive, with the curricular activities available on the website allowing teachers anywhere to also include these lessons and activities in their classroom.